Jim Henson: The Works

Jim Henson: The Works is a hard-cover coffee-table style examination of Jim Henson, focusing primarily on his career as a puppeteer and filmmaker, with occasional examinations of his personal life. Author Christopher Finch's previous book, Of Muppets and Men, focused on the making of The Muppet Show, only briefly touching on the history of the Muppets as a whole. The Works is a comprehensive follow-up volume, starting with Jim Henson's childhood and going all the way up through the most recent productions of the Henson Company after Jim's passing -- including the most recent production at the time, The Muppet Christmas Carol.

At the end of the book, Finch explains the book's genesis:

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This book has been more than a decade in the making. Jim Henson first discussed it with me in the early 1980's, when the Muppets were at the height of their success. He emphasized, however, that it was a long-term project. He felt his career had not yet reached a point that justified such a book, explaining that there were too many things he still wanted to do. But he added that I should expect a call one day.

He mentioned the project a couple of times over the next several years, but the call did not come until 1990. It arrived in the form of a telephone message that said, 'I think this is the right time to do the book we talked about. I hope you'll be available in the near future and that we can get together soon to talk about it.' Less than a week later, he was dead.